How to squeeze electricity out of crystals - Ashwini Bharathula
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to-squeeze-electricity-out-of-crystals-ashwini-bharathula It might sound like science fiction, but if you press on a crystal of sugar, it will...
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This is a crystal of sugar. If you press on it, it will actually generate its own electricity. How can this simple crystal act like a tiny power source? Because sugar is piezoelectric. Piezoelectric materials turn mechanical stress, like pressure, sound waves, and other vibrations into electricity and vice versa. This odd phenomenon was first discovered by the physicist Pierre Curie and his brother Jacques in 1880. They discovered that if they compressed thin slices of certain crystals, positive and negative charges would appear on opposite faces. This difference in charge, or voltage, meant that the compressed crystal could drive current through a circuit, like a battery. And it worked the other way around, too. Running electricity through these...
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This is a crystal of sugar. If you press on it, it will actually generate its own electricity. How can this simple crystal act like a tiny power source? Because sugar is piezoelectric. Piezoelectric materials turn mechanical stress, like pressure, sound waves, and other vibrations into electricity and vice versa. This odd phenomenon was first discovered by the physicist Pierre Curie and his brother Jacques in 1880. They discovered that if they compressed thin slices of certain crystals, positive and negative charges would appear on opposite faces. This difference in charge, or voltage, meant that the compressed crystal could drive current through a circuit, like a battery. And it worked the other way around, too. Running electricity through these...
